God Loves, Man Won't
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: Charles trusts Rogue to go on a sensitive mission to recruit a New Orleans mutant. Religious bigots and talks of registration were motivating him. She tracks a trail of thefts coinciding with mutant disappearances, but they are forced to work together when a fanatical army of Purifiers and Mr. Sinister come for them, both. Can they make it out with more than they came in with?
1. Prologue

Logan sat forward, relaxing in the piano room in his trusted, authentic cowboy hat. It wasn't the lovely weather goddess playing for him, as she often did to lull him to sleep. Or, soothe the resident telepath migraines. It was tiny Kitty Pryde, getting older but still petite. She had taken up the instrument in her free time, keeping her college extracurriculars stacked.

She has a long way to go, but she shows promise. Like everything she does, and no matter what, she makes the man proud. It's not how well she plays, it's that she knows the man's nerves are bad. One of them was away on a solo mission, and despite the impassive looks and grunts, he wouldn't rest until they're back. They wouldn't expect any different.

So, Scott and Kurt did a few extra training sessions. Ororo brewed his coffee that morning. His bikes had been cleaned by Jean. Little things that made all the difference. But, he could sense it in his soul when they entered the mansion. Charles and Ororo. They felt off, and he'd learned how to feel for anything. Still, he tried not to jump to conclusions. It always felt off when one of the team was separated.

He tapped the leg of his worn jeans in rhythm with Kitty's rendition of 'The Entertainer', more pride shining in his eyes than he'd admit. "Good, Katherine. Watch your timing, but _much_ better than last time. I'll get ya a metronome." One of Logan's vices besides smoking and drinking was definitely spoiling the X-Girls. She beamed at him, continuing with emphasis to her timing.

A door shut and he heard, hushed, low voices. Whispering. Sighs. He quirked an eyebrow, still tapping along even if he wasn't paying full attention. Kitty's brunette hair had been trimmed into a short, neat bob. It was an attempt to look more mature, but she only looked younger. Smaller. She paused when he stood, his tension evident. "Keep goin," He instructed, his eyes in the other room.

She played, hesitantly, as he followed his nose. Ororo met him midway, her skin uncharacteristically pale. Her eyes bloodshot, nose runny._ 'Damn woman,'_ He thought bitingly. She was always fussing over him instead of taking care of herself. Now, she was getting sick. "You sick, 'Ro? Come here." The worry deepened on his face when her's didn't lighten. "Ororo?"

_"Logan..."_ Her voice was tight, and Charles' head was bowed in his hands. Something was wrong. He looked up when her breath shuddered.

"Logan..." The bald man continued, concerned lines etched on his face. Something had them both twisted, the wild mutant could smell it. And, they were scared of something. He could only smell, not read minds, like some. "Something's," He wrung his fingers together and his friend began to snarl, viciously. "Something's _happened_, Logan." He shook his head. He'd never seen either of them act this way since his bike got joy-rided by the New Recruits.

It could only be one thing.

"No." He jerked from the weather mutant's touch, making tears spring to her eyes. He shook his head, knowing what they were about to say before they said it. "No, _don't..._" Ororo buried her face in her hands.

"Rogue is_ missing,_ Logan." The white haired woman can barely say the words, knowing they will torture him.

"Forge and Kitty designed a discreet bracelet she used to communicate with the War Room while on mission. She would press a button and send frequency at a certain time to ensure her safety, that everything was going according to plan." A wild emotion settled into the back of the Wolverine's dark eyes.

"She missed a checkpoint." He filled in flatly. She wouldn't do that on purpose. She knew not just he, but the professor, Storm, her brother, Scott, her roommate, the _entire school_ would worry if they hadn't heard from her. She trained the most with Logan, second only to Laura. Rogue wouldn't just_ miss_ a checkpoint.

"You have drilled meticulousness into her. When I did not receive the update, Ororo and I checked the War Room..." He buried his face in his hands again, stifling a moan. Logan didn't see how the news could get worse. Any number of things could've happened to her, out there. All he can think about were all the counterpoints he had to this proposal. Rogue shouldn't have been alone, seeking Gambit.

"We checked the coordinates of the Blackbird to see if she was in retreat, on the way here..." He flinched when she grabbed his hand. "_Logan._ The Blackbird was _shot down_." His skin went white as a sheet. "It's... It's in the North Channe-" She was supposed to be tracking Gambit to Muir Island, Scotland. And now, her ship had sunk into the _ocean_.

The thought of Rogue sitting in a watery grave made him feel light-headed. Full of rage. Hate. Ororo was crying, now. But, he couldn't move. His feet were anchored to the carpet. _'She's...'_

"I cannot sense her with Cerebro." Charles admitted reluctantly, wincing at Logan's roar. "But, we have no reason to be-" He frowned when the man took off, growling towards the door. "Logan, _wait!_ Rogue is almost as good a pilot as_ you_ are. And, she had Gambit with her. Our last correspondence, she _told_ me that. Whatever took them out, we need to th-"

Ororo sighed when he shot silver, shining claws out. "Only thing I'm_ thinkin'_ about, Chuck. Is bringin' her home." He raised his claws, madness peering through them, like bars. "Safe, or..." Both mutants see the struggle with another side of himself. The one that kills, will kill for Rogue or any other student. One that promises death if a hair is harmed on her head, and even_ he_ thinks he'll be bringing her home in a box._ "Not_ leavin' her there."

"We must stay positive and to-" He turned quickly on the weather goddess. He wasn't in the mood for her calm, pleasing voice. Not today. Not now.

"No, Storm. Don't you _Chicken Soup For The Soul,_ me! This is on me! I could've gone with her!" His voice is more animal than man, but the senior X-Men member was not afraid of his rage. She knew it came from care and love for all the students. "Then, she would_ at least_ have me o-"

"I've told you," Charles cut in exasperation. "Gambit would not listen to you _both_. He trusts Rogue. Cares about her. They have a rapport and he would listen to what she had to say, convince him that-" Rage flashed on the Canadian mutant's face.

_"Gambit's trust worth all this?"_ Is all his says back, forcing the psychic to meet his stare. Dares him to defend his stupid plan, to keep his visions and future sights a secret until they destroyed them all.

_"Logan,"_ Ororo pleads, but he's never had deafer ears.

"This isn't on you, Logan." He's never heard the man's voice sound so panicked and dejected. But, he can't see past how Rogue's safety was compromised. Set out, like a chess piece despite the risks involved. And now, she was all alone. Maybe, dead or dying. And, he was in Bayville. "It is on me. And, I know my sorry will never be enough. But, we don't know what we are dealing with. If you go off, you could end up missing or dead _yourself_!" Logan only shook his head.

"Not likely. Nothin's happenin' to me until I bring Stripe back."

"Where _is_ Rogue? Did she run off with _Remy_?" Kitty stood at the door of the piano room, her eyebrow raised. She was swimming in a large, oversized sweatshirt that was bright pink and hung to her knees. Logan only sheathed his claws and turned away from her. Ororo took in a staccato breath, avoiding Kitty's blue eyes. The petite mutant began to get worried when the mood in the room didn't lighten. It seemed to get worse. "Mr. Logan..."

"I'm goin' to get her." Was all he said, his back on Ororo and Charles.

_"Logan-"_

"Be strong." Was all he said to the girl before placing a heavy hand on her head. Now, his behavior was scaring her. She jerked back, starting to panic.

"W-Wait? She's really in trouble?" She moved quickly around the barrel chested man, blocking the door with her tiny body. "Well, _wait!_ What happened? Why aren't we all-"

_"Not now_, half-pint." He grunted half-heartedly, moving her out of his way. Still, she wouldn't give up so easily.

"Logan! She's my roommate! My best friend, Kurt's si-"

_"I said go play the piano, Katherine. Now."_ His tone forces her to back off, watching in horror as he walked right out the front door. Charles buried his face in his hands as Ororo shakily led Kitty to the piano room. The questions were about to begin, and they wouldn't stop.

'_But... What do I say..._' Ororo thought, feeling helpless and gutted by Logan's departure. She got Kitty to sit, her stare distant.

"Rogue and Gambit are in trouble,_ aren't they_?" The older woman sighed into her hands, feeling foolish when she can't stop her tears.

"Yes Kitty, I think so."


	2. Pray

_Two days earlier, at Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters..._

* * *

_"This is the fourth, top level security Research Facility that has been broken into and seemingly bombed. Specimens, and what some speculate were mutants, freed. There against their will or not, is a another story. This time, in Wales, an entire facility has been emptied out. Years of data, taken and compromised. This happens right on the heels of the Stryker family, lobbying for harsher mutant legislation. Even calling into question if mutants should be considered humans, at all. Regardless, United Kingdom authorities are asking for any information. They are assuming it is a super powered indivu-" _

Logan shut the T.V off in annoyance, his burnt orange jacket ruffling as he moved. Now, the church wanted to hop on the mutant hating train. He had lived a long life, and he knew _exactly_ why this was bad. Some people would do anything in the name of religion_. For_ religion. To believe in something. All a charismatic priest had to do was liken mutants to demons. He could see it, now.

"Charles..." He began. The bald man was sitting in a perfectly pressed, olive colored suit. Cerebro was resting in his hands, his stare locked on the shut off T.V. "What are you thinkin'?"

"The explosions were Gambit." He said quietly, fingers drumming across the smooth, metal. Logan quirked an eyebrow. He already didn't like this. "These... Bursts Jean was sensing, even without Cerebra... They are mutants being released from sort of mutation dampening technology." Logan remembered his brief stint captured, staring at mutant children behind glass.

"You're tellin' me _Mardis Gras_ is liberating captured mutants? In the UK? Well, I guess_ pigs_ fly." Coal black eyes narrowed. He thought highly of the telepath in front of him, but he seemed to think too highly of people. "The _same_ swamp rat that stole Rogue? Dragged her to New Orleans... He knows who we are, what we do. Why didn't he tag us in?"

Now, Charles' brow furrowed. That, he couldn't be sure about. Gambit did not trust or feel that he fit in with the rest of the team. He came by (to see Rogue) after Apocalypse, but he was gone as quickly as he'd appeared. Doing what, none of them could be sure. Rogue certainly hadn't said much about it. Logan had seen a few cards left in the window of her and Kitty's balcony, and the gap coincided with the UK attacks.

It'd been a little over two years since Apocalypse. Human and mutant relations were as tense as ever. More and more anti-mutant factions popping up. Protests. Attacks on the Morlocks (some which had resulted in tragic deaths), open experimentation and capture of mutants, aid to those with the X-Genes fell between the cracks of the justice system because there _were_ no laws addressing mutants.

The clawed, animal-like mutant worried for all the students. Things were not panning out over time, not the way he had hoped. He remembers the heartbreak and pain when Jean and Scott were denied acceptance into ivy league colleges. Despite the glowing recommendations. Despite their near perfect GPAs while saving the world. Training their peers. Despite them deserving it, more than anyone else.

They were not safe outside the school's walls. Without each other. And, it didn't matter how hard they fought. Toiled. Slaved. Saved the people who feared and hated them. These thoughts kept the man up at night as the enrollment raised. "He feels deeply, Logan. And, he_ cares_ for her. Something is motivating him to free these test subjects and thieve the research. He is saving a great many lives." Logan only grunted, not finding it in him to be impressed.

"So. When do you want us to_ intercep_t the idiot? Ask him to join us, finally." He was snarling. He'd just gotten over Piotr and Kitty. He sees a reluctance in the psychic's eyes.

"I don't think a whole team response is an appropriate action. Current events, the news..." There were live videos of mutants being tortured, beaten. Only a matter of time until one is killed. Only a matter of time until a kid is left dead on their doorstep. The thought makes the dark haired man's blood simmer. "A whole team of super-powered mutants mobilizes... Gambit, moving on his own agenda. Logan, that could start a war. You've _seen_ what could happen to the Morlocks, with just passive mutations."

Logan snarled, cutting him off. "Alright. Alright. What do you propose we do? Know you showed_ me_ for a reason." The man could not be told things and expected not to act. Like, when Rogue and Spyke were being bullied by the football team. Or, Fred's brief infatuation with Kitty after Jean. He had silently and very quickly dealt with it, and not with his claws. Charles shut his eyes.

"I choose to believe Gambit is doing this for the right reasons. But, it could just make matters worse. He needs to be apprehended. We need to know what he is seeking. What he is trying to protect. And, that means how we approach Gambit means all the difference..." The former S.H.I.E.L.D agent shook his head.

"Oh no._ No no no._ You want to send_ Stripe_ off to clean up his mess? Bat her grey eyes at him, make him _behave_ for a little while? Be a cold day in hell, Charles. And, you should know better. Kitty or Jean, I'd expect this from." He pulled out a cigarette and Charles was silent. That would keep him from breaking something. Shattering it in a fit of concerned rage. "You_ saw her_ after that New Orleans stint. After Apocalypse, her powers. Just c-"

"They already have a rapport. She will go deeper with him, Logan. She will get information that can save countless, mutant lives. Maybe, some of our own. And get him to join us, finally." Logan looked away.

"Why _just_ her. Send... Send Shades with her, Jean. Peter, they used to be teammates._ Anybody_." Charles couldn't explain how, but he just knew that if Remy saw more than one body, anybody but Rogue, he would shut down. Completely. And, he could tell by following his trail of mysterious explosions that whatever it was, it was important.

"Logan, if this goes left we could all end up in concentration camps. All of us, forced in sewers._ I've seen it."_ He let the air whistle through his teeth.

"What if something happens? She's _one_ girl with_ one_ fairly passive mutation when she's not fighting a bunch of mutants." Charles can't help but smile, making the man angrier.

"Yes, but she was taught by _you._ Some would say those out there she be scared of_ her_. You worry, Logan, because it is what you do. Not because you have to." He snorted. They were growing. Changing. Maturing. But even as adults, he would always consider them children. The ones he's responsible for. He would someday have to let them out into the world, a world that needed them. But, he wasn't sure it deserved. "They are all a far-cry from the children they were years ago. Even, a year ago. Kitty will be holding seminars, our friend in question might have her own team some day..."

He barked out a harsh laugh. "Over my dead body."

"You train them for this. To do what needs to be done. What the _world_ needs them to do. Rogue's gift, her talent, her _power_ right now is getting Remy to use his powers for our cause. For a world where mutants and humans can live." He sighed. After what he'd seen happen to the children, Laura, Apocalypse, he wasn't sure he believed in peace. If peace would ever come to them. Mutants.

But, he supposed hope was important. Especially, for young people. "I gotta say, Chuck. I got a bad feelin' about this. And, I worry for Rogue because that's my job. _Someone's_ gotta do it." Charles' face hardened.

"We all do, Logan. But, she's becoming a woman. Much as I had to let Jean go and fill into her co-leadership role, let her make decisions... We must let Rogue spread her wings. She's ready, and if our mission is to at least stop Gambit..." Charles leaned his face on his fingers, deep in thought. "It should be her. And, _only_ her."

Even Logan had been surprised by Rogue's choice to show mercy on Gambit. She had just thrown Mystique from a cliff. She was increasingly distraught about it. It almost tore her and Kurt apart, and it left Rogue wondering if her hate and anger had already destroyed her. Then, Gambit sweeps her away under the guise of helping her. That alone, Logan could've gutted him for. Rogue always had enough to deal with. But, even after she figured that out she helped his father. And maybe, it was the start of a turning point for her, the girl who never thought she could forgive.

The whiskered man just growled. Rogue was stronger than they all gave her credit for, but he knew she was just as fragile. He just shook his head.

"Let_ me_ talk to her." It was more a growl than words. Charles chuckled in surprise.

"Oh, I have no intention of getting in the way of you and... That conversation." He kept his amused thoughts about Logan's fatherly roles in all the children's lives to himself. All things considered, he hadn't been as grumpy as usual.

* * *

She was sitting on the ledge of the institute roof, reading some book that would probably make the Canadian blush. She loved period pieces and young adult novels, he had a habit of leaving them around, for her. But, he had other things on his mind. Murder on his stare. She set the book down and turned to intercept the man, knowing a storm was coming. She was wearing a black, fitted dress that had a hood with cat ears (courtesy as a gift from Kitty) and tightly knit, fishnet stockings underneath.

"Logan? What's got _your_ panties in a bunch?" She had been reasonably well behaved this week, and only threatened_ two_ younger student's lives. She certainly didn't deserve the troubled stare he had, just a navy shirt and worn jeans on.

"Rogue. Need to talk to ya, mission." She quirked a well groomed eyebrow, now intrigued by her mentor's behavior. It was caveman speak, something was on his mind. And, he didn't like the mischievous look in her eye. Why just her and not everyone else? Whatever he was going on about, it was going to be good.

"Mission? Lil ol'_ me_?" He growled, fumbling for a cigarette. He was smoking a pack a day.

"Listen up, kid. It's important." His eyebrows were knit together, something clearly bothering him. "Charles came to me about this." Her eyes darkened. This wasn't fun business, this was serious. "Been watchin' the news? Like the whole main team is _supposed_ to? Jean and Scooter, do." Rogue rolled her eyes. They were a regular Stepford couple, and sometimes she laughs about that hopeless crush she had (okay, more than a hopeless crush).

_"Jean and Scooter, do._ Yeah, sometimes. It's kind of depressin'." He only shut his mouth at that, he couldn't disagree. Women and children crying, Morlocks begging for their lives, men in full military regalia holding signs that say "Hang Mutants". Sometimes he would sit in a trance, trying to learn every new thing he had to protect the kids from.

"Knowledge is power, Rogue. You youngin's need to know what's happening _before_ my old ass tells you." The girl picked at her gloves. This was pretty high on the word count for Wolverine. "There's been a lot going on in the UK, Rogue. Private owned research corporations bein' blasted into, research seized, mutants liberated." Rogue's eyes lit up.

_"Oh_? We should go an' join 'em." The girl's mutation made her a frequent, scientific target. She had been captured and experimented on, just like Logan. He grunted in response.

"No kiddin'. That's what the professor wants to do. It's _Gambit,_ Rogue." She's glad she's not holding the book still, because she would've dropped it. She still hadn't told Scott that the southern mutant routinely left her playing cards, shot glasses from around the country, beaded necklaces. And that, his disappearance was starting to worry to her. She tries to get a poker face on, but it doesn't matter. "He's been thievin' information and liberating mutants on the way, professor sensed his mutation with Cerebro."

Now, Rogue was cursing under her breath. "Dang fool." She spat. Now, she would've preferred he had stolen her to help him so the X-Men would back him up. He was all the way across the world, and the man had many enemies. Rogue had learned that a long time ago. "He needs our help, don't he? Or worse." She folded her arms and frowned. "Professor wants me to try and talk some sense into him." Logan only grimaced.

"You know how you said he did the right thing for the wrong reasons? Chuck is worried he might do that, again. The wrong people are watching us, Rogue. The Friends Of Humanity, some crazy church people. Things... Things are dangerous. And, there's rumors about a mutant cure being broke through in Muir. Right around where he's hittin'." She sees the fear in his eyes, knows he knows from experience what would happen. Religious paranoia and mutants forcefully stripped of their powers. "The right people get the right ideas... Charles doesn't want gumbo tippin' the scales outta our favor." He sighed and crossed his arms over a broad chest.

"Okay, so? What do we do? When we goin'?" Her hands were on her hips now. Their eyes met and she saw a hundred years in his eyes.

"He wants_ you_ to go, Rogue." Her blood ran cold.

"T-There's nothin' goin' o-" She held gloved hands up.

"Oh, _I know_." He shot his claws out. "He knows better, I smell his funk every time he comes to breadcrumb you." She peered through the his claws to the man's face. "But, he _trusts_ you. We don't want to push this till it bursts. Charles wants to know what's goin' on. If we can help him, if _he_ will help us. He wants you to bring him back." Her eyes softened. He did not feel at home, not even in NOLA. He never felt like he belonged, anywhere. His psyche in her head told her that. "We make a big dogfight out of this, we'll have sentinels at our door."

If he or Scott were involved, it would become a dogfight. Still, she didn't know what to do with so much trust being handed to her. It was honestly a lot of pressure, especially if it involved Gambit. Bond or not, that didn't make her the encyclopedia on him. "Ah can only wonder why Gambit does a lot of things he does. Ah can't promise this will work out the way the professor wants." His face darkened.

"He thinks you got the best shot. Say the word. I'll go,_ whoever_ you want goes, if you don't want to do this alone." He looked deep into grey eyes, ones that have slowly gotten more confident. Stronger. Sure. She nodded.

"Ah can do this. He will make a big mess if he feels like he's bein' pursued. And, we don't know if there's a gun to his head or not. Ah'll do what the professor has asked." She shut her eyes, seriously. The girl was still astounded the professor was putting so much faith and stock in her. She would do her best not to let him, everyone else down. "When should Ah-"

"Soon as you do a course in the Danger Room, with me. Want you takin' the Blackbird, give the illusion that you're packin' numbers. Tryin' to talk Chuck into letting you carry a little gun, maybe a knife... His argument against Kitty is that she doesn't have the_ knowledge_ to wield one. You, on the other hand..." He stroked his chin, thinking of anything he could send with the girl being safe. Rogue only laughed.

Logan looked over the horizon, his stare weary. He prayed for safety. For all of them.


	3. Hell In A Hand Basket

_The Blackbird was spinning, fishtailing. Smoke and smog poured in front of the windows as the dropped, rapidly. The only thing keeping Rogue on her feet was Gambit, holding her eyes as the world seemingly burned around them. "Chére? Chére? Trus' me, okay. Gambit not gon' let nothin' happen to'ya." She tried to nod, wondering if any of their intensely detailed exercises had gone over this. "When Remy say jump, chére, we jump. D'accord?" She tried not to shake as she nodded, remembering her and Scott plunging into an arctic river together. He flashed a grin. "We gon' be alright. Now, jump." _

* * *

Rogue spent her solitary flight wondering what Gambit was up to. He had a good heart, that was why she was so fond of him. But, sometimes he got mixed up in the wrong things. Being a former Acolyte and the New Orleans trip proved that. Liberating captured test subjects didn't sound like a bad thing to her, though. She wished the professor and Logan would say more of what they mean, sometimes.

The professor had been a little vague after Apocalypse. She too, had seen things. But her fragile, broken mind retained almost none of it. Vague feelings, senses of deja vu. Nothing else. It seemed psychics were more predisposed to having and keeping the visions. And, they were what motivated him, now. She tried not to think about it.

She had a mission, and it was to do Gambit damage control. She hoped whatever paralyzing things Charles had seen never came to pass. As she eyed the dreary, overcast skies, she has to wonder who wants to go to _Scotland_. "Why couldn't Ah have been sent to somewhere cool, like France. Germany... No, _Muir Island_." One place she seemed almost guaranteed to not have fun.

The building is in the industrial district and unassuming. Nothing but a sign that read 'ESSEX INDUSTRIES'. The fence has a hole blasted into it, the edges singed by Remy's signature blasts. _'The professor was right, what're you doin' alone, ya idiot?'_ He was so reckless, and foolish. Like, nothing bad could ever happen to him. She snorted at the thought. They were mutants, everything bad could happen to them. Just ask her.

She tightened the oversized, denim jacket Logan had sent her across the world, in. Rogue wasn't really sure what she was dealing with, Remy knew that. She just hoped he hadn't dragged her into another disaster, like New Orleans. Had it gone any worse, she wouldn't have been able to stop Logan from cutting him. He didn't think before he did things.

The X-Man crept silently into the dark laboratory. There were no doctors in sight, papers scattered everywhere. Cages open. Subjects gone_._ It was silent._ 'He's freed them.'_ Rogue's glad, because she wasn't going to stop him from doing that. She hears a commotion in the distance and presses flat against the wall. She remembers him slipping the Queen Of Hearts in her soaked glove, watching him walk away.

What will she even say to him? It's been so long since they've really seen each other. She listened carefully as she heard whimpers. Whispers. Then, the patter of feet. She stepped out from the wall, a stun gun set on a low setting pointing right at Remy. "Freeze,_ swamp rat_." She called out half-heartedly. He didn't, he turned slowly to see Rogue standing there.

She hasn't changed much in the two years since he's seen her, and she has. Her hair's a little longer than he remembers. She's put on a little weight since straddling dangerously thin in high school. She looks healthier. Happier, he certainly thought so every time his travels brought him near the institute. Still pale, but he loves the look on her.

He sees capable eyes behind the gun, watching his every move. He can't help but smile. This is the last thing he wanted, but he's happy to see her, anyways. He looks just like she left him, red and black eyes and that blue and maroon and shirt under his trench coat. The silly caesar she thought was so cute, years ago. He looked like a dog who'd gotten into the trash. Guilty, but not sorry.

"Y'wound me, _chére._ Y'gonna shoot?" Rogue bit back a smile. She didn't want this to be too fun for him.

"It's a stun gun, n' only if Ah have to." The mischievousness melts into her eyes. "So, don' make me." Wolverine's training came in handy. Rogue's light and lethal on her feet, but Gambit's psyche in her head reminds her of his skill. "Come with me Gambit, let's talk."

"Remy,_ chére._ And, Remy would love to but," He frowned. "Remy got other plans." He looked around, making sure they had the luxury of being alone. He is smiling, but his energy is nervous. Rogue can tell. "Where de res' o'ya lil _friends_?" The thief moved quickly when she cartwheeled near him, swinging fast for his chin. He dodged, wondering if she was being mind controlled, again.

"Jus' me," She breathed, swiping for his ankles. He flipped out of the way, admiring her growth in skills, among other things. The petite woman launched herself for him, but he blocked her with his staff, grinning.

"Oh, y'call dis a_ date,_ den?" The cajun fought the urge to peck her purple painted lips. God knows he wanted to, ever since Apocalypse. She only rolled her eyes.

"Ah came to ask ya, _nicely._" He quirked an eyebrow before throwing his weight, flipping her slender frame onto the ground. She glared at him, grey eyes seething as he leaned over her. He knew just how much she hated and loved this_. 'Damn him.'_ He pressed harder, loving the red flushing colorless cheeks. The frustrated tears in her eyes, the tension keeping her from matching his energy.

"Ask me what,_ chére_? Whatever it is, Gambit say yes." She watched his face.

"You said _Gambit,_ not Remy. And, you can drop dead, Swamp rat." Logan would be proud. He chuckled, thinking of a flirty response when he heard a noise. Someone else was there, that wasn't good. He moved just as quick as he'd pinned her, pulling the dazed X-Man with him. His eyes glowed softly in the dim lab, searching for the source of the noises.

Who he was here to hunt, he did not want Rogue to meet. Ever. Definitely, not alone and without her team._ 'Non, dis... Dis gon' have to wait. Remy make a promise, gotta look out for her.'_ He sighed, rifling a fingerless-gloved hand through his hair. "Listen, _chére._ Pleasure t'see ya. But, y'shouldn' be here. Remy thinkin' we should go." For once, the fellow southerner was making a lot of sense.

"That's pretty much what Ah came to say. You got a good heart, Remy. But, you're in over your head." She nagged. He only shrugged. He had lived his whole life on survival mode.

"Who ya _tellin_'?" She cocked her hands on her hips. She was used to men and their general recklessness, and she wasn't impressed. "Remy do jus' fine til he started worryin' for_ two._" She frowned when his stare hardened. "Dese some rough people, Rogue. Y'don't know what Ah got myself into, gotta be careful where ya insert yaself, girl." Now, she felt like she was being lectured by Scott or Logan._ 'Remy tryna fix somethin', now he gotta keep ya safe. At all costs.'_

"Jus what _were_ ya gettin' into? Huh?" Now, she was suspicious. Frowning. He chuckled, pulling her along, nervously. "Ya didn't think nobody would_ notice?_"

"Dat's what Ah wanted, _chére._ Somebody t'notice. Dats what Remy afraid of." He broke into a graceful gallop, Rogue breaking out into a sprint beside him. She'd never seen the man spooked, not even that brief time around Apocalypse. Something put real fear in him, and before she came, he'd been trying to lure it out. _'Oh, gumbo... What were ya doin'?'_

Rogue forced herself to be silent, checking her watch. She would need to contact the institute or there would be a fleet of mutants looking for her. When the unlocked door came into sight, Remy pushed her behind a wall, breathing quietly. "Make sure no one camped out front, _non?"_ He locked eyes with Rogue and she nodded, praying the researchers hadn't returned.

She still had nightmares about being captured, sedated, samples taken while Logan watched. All of them. Mystique screaming and cursing. Her and Remy wouldn't fair well to be captured. She saw him listening to something she couldn't hear, so she pressed a button on her watch. It sent a frequency back to the mansion's War Room, indicating that she was alright.

Moments later, Charles was on Cerebro. '_Rogue! You are well?'_

_'Yeah, Ah'm with Gambit. He wanted to leave, Ah think Ah'll convince him to come to the school and speak with everyone. He wants to help.'_ Charles smiled all the way in Bayville. Jean had been getting migraines from Logan's deep anxiety. Scott's regular three or four hours of sleep had been reduced to two that night. The school wanted the pair back home.

_'Exactly what I wanted to hear. You've run into no trouble?_' Rogue shook her head, even if he can't see. _'No, none.'_ Remy broke from her side to sleuth around, quickly. _'About to board the Blackbird.'_

_'Excellent. You've done an astonishing job, Rogue. Exactly what I've asked. When you've set course for home, please send another signal. I'd love to correspond with Remy, if he'll have it.'_

_'Oh, he will. Talk to ya soon, professor.'_ She even smiled, in spite of herself. She'd been terrified. Kurt had been terrified. But, the mission had gone perfectly. And, it worked. No matter how he acted, he sees the trust she had to come for him.

_'Be safe, Rogue._' When their conversation ended, Remy rounded the corner. White-faced.

"Okay, when Ah say... We gotta run. Dere... Are _vehicles_ out dere. Dey not _in 'em._" Rogue's skin managed to pale further. There had been researchers or military personnel in there with them. She forces her heartbeat to slow and her hands to stop shaking as she looks into Remy's eyes. Red and black. "We run. Fast as we kin. Den, we _fly_ fast as we kin._ D'accord?_" She nods. Flying fast is something Logan taught her how to do, and at nineteen, she does it well. "Good." He stops and listens, carefully. Rogue wonders what he hears. "Now."

They took off flying, feeling hunted even if nothing was pursuing them. They both had the distinct feeling of being watched. Rogue suddenly began to wonder if she was worried about the right thing. Maybe, not many humans but a few powerful mutants. She's able to recognize the feeling of having someone in her head, it's only happened so many times.

Remy's terror is palpable, one she didn't see back in New Orleans. He's grabbed on to her wrist, tight. Pulling her almost faster than she can run. The Blackbird is in sight and they're almost safe. She didn't feel like it, though. She's scrambling for the keys when Remy starts muttering, making the door to the massive vehicle open. He practically hurled her in, wishing that this stop, of all stops, wasn't the one she followed him to.

If Sinister is there, he's sensed Rogue. Remy is a petty game, but if he can get her he won't let her go. His heart beats like a war drum in his head, watching the girl deftly set all the settings. The jet whirrs and lights up, soon they're floating in the air. Remy closes his eyes because he wants to believe. He trespassed in Sinister's lab and lived to tell about it. He cast a weary glance out the window and jumped to his feet.

"Rem, not now..." Rogue muttered, focusing on setting the correct coordinates. The jet was acting funny, not doing exactly what she input.

"Rogue... We got company." His staff was extended and cards were in his hands. Her heart nearly dropped when she saw what he meant. They were standing there. Staring up. Smiling. A man who looked seven feet tall, shrouded in strange, blue armor. White skin. Glowing red eyes and pointy teeth. A massive, behemoth of a man who looked equal parts Juggernaut and equal parts Blob anchored beside him. And a thin, wiry man with a dark mustache. Cold eyes. And one massive gun on his shoulder.

_"Oh my god_, Remy. Is one of them a psychic?" The cajun shut his eyes and uttered a prayer.

"Yeah, Rogue. He is." She banged against the console in frustration.

"Then, this thing isn't gonna fly, _anywhere."_ Their eyes met, the figures on the ground gesturing towards the plane. "Ah'm sorry._ This,_" She looked down and swallowed hard. _"This is my fault_." She whispers, her lip trembling. Even though it seems like a death wish for him to try to face off with them alone, her arrival certainly complicated things. He had a hundred other things to think about, and they were trapped.

"Non, _chére._ Ain't yo fault at all." He grabbed her hand and rubbed the rings beneath her gloves, like he had on the bayou. "Dere was only one way dis could go, Remy sorry_ you_ here." Rogue screamed when the jet rocked, one of the engines searing clean off. She tumbled into his arms, smoke beginning to fill the inside and outside of the plane.

Coming to her senses, Rogue quickly opened one of the doors and began to pilot. "Ah gotta try and get us away from here..." She grit her teeth together, pulling the steering wheel up. _'If we crash over water... Maybe, we survive._' It's not she realizes she never contacted the professor. That's good, they'll know things went wrong. But, it makes her tear up, again.

_"Petite!_" Remy exclaimed, pointing out the window. The Native American looking mutant was raising his gun towards the vehicle, which was struggling to stay airborne after the first shot. The thief turned when Rogue began to growl, much like a pissed off cat.

_"Oh, no ya don't!"_ She floored the jet and the moved just in time for the second blast. They could both feel from the tilt and swerve that the damage is done. Rogue isn't making it to Bayville. They'd be lucky to clear the rocky cliffs and Scottish land for the water. When the smog begins filling inside the cabin, Remy wraps his jacket carefully around them both.

"Ah'm here, _chére_." Something inside the plane backfired, causing them to spin sideways. Rogue slid from the pilot seat to the screams of the southerner, nearly falling right out the open door. He used the momentum to fling himself first, using his staff to keep from falling out the jet. His body kept her inside, the jet continuing to fishtail.

He pulled her to his feet, carefully. His mind was working a mile a minute, but they only had seconds. "_Oh god,_" Rogue began, her breaths shallow. What was she thinking? They were gonna drown in the Blackbird, and Logan would find their bodies. She screamed as the plane entered freefall. "Remy, we're go-"

_"Chére? Chére?_" He grabbed her head, carefully remembering to catch her hair. _"Trus' me,_ okay. Gambit not gon' let nothin' happen to'ya. Ever." She tried to nod, wondering if any of their intensely detailed exercises had gone over this. "When Remy say jump_, chér_e, we jump. D'accord?" She tried not to shake as she nodded, remembering her and Scott plunging into an arctic river together. He flashed a grin. "Gotta clear de jet, it'll suck us under. We gon' be alright. Now, _jump."_

Hand in hand, they leapt.


	4. Same Page

_6 Hours after Charles realizes Rogue is missing..._

* * *

Logan had traveled to Muir island before, many times when the mansion was just Charles' empty pipe dream. He'd gone on many retrieval missions. Rogue had a habit of running away, many students went missing or were taken. But, he'd never considered not bringing one home. Bringing them home for a funeral. Definitely, not her.

The flight is silent and suspiciously quick for the distance between his and his sidekick's last known whereabouts. He hasn't gone to church in decades, and he doesn't really believe in anything. But, he prays the whole way there. He finds the building in fifteen minutes. He spies fallen fuselage from the Blackbird on the cold, Scottish ground and docks his jet.

It doesn't look good, whatever blasted them out of the sky. The durable, damn near indestructible material was blistered and shattered. Destroyed. He stifles a growl as he spies the channel, raging. Somewhere underneath, was the school's plane. He steeled his face and forced himself along the grey, chilled coast line. Trying to prepare himself for whatever he saw.

But, then he caught something. Faint. Probably his mind playing tricks on him. Magnolias. _'Rogue.'_ And Gambit. He crashed to the fine sand, straining to catch any sign of them. _'They made it to the bank. Dear god. She's alive.'_ He can barely believe what he's smelling. But soon, other smells occlude his senses. There was a small crowd, here. "They aren't alone." He snarled in realization. Whoever found them, took them. And, it didn't smell good.

'_Charles...'_

_'Logan?'_ He must've been sitting at Cerebro, waiting.

_'I... I've found her scent. They made it to the coast._' He can hear relief rush the man, even thousands of miles away.

_'Heavens, Logan... I could cry.'_ He groaned.

_'Don't cry, yet. I smell other things. Mutants... Think they took her, and Gumbo._' His claws shot out._ 'I'm gonna find out.'_

_'Please, the mansion has been in unbearable unrest. Keep us updated.'_

Logan nodded to himself. _'Will do. Everything okay, there?'_

_'So far, yes. The news is no less concerning. Bring her home, Logan.'_

_'I will, Chuck.'_

* * *

Hand in hand, they leapt. Something about Remy's coolness comforted Rogue. She didn't have much to hold on to besides him as they plunged towards the ocean, deja vu haunting Rogue. They cut through the water like knives, uniforms and other things only adding to their weight. The shock of the cold makes Rogue's instinct to cry out. She holds it together, if only for Remy's sake and because she's been in this situation, before.

Their grips on each other's hands tightens, the arctic temperatures constricting their molecules. Remy shot to the surface like a bullet, determined not to let Mr. Sinister kill them. But, when they clawed to the surface sputtering, he realized they had bigger problems. "Swim girl," He coughed, praying the collapsing jet did not suck them under.

Rogue isn't a strong swimmer, but Remy's just close enough to a rock to to pull them from the current. Rogue's grip on him is slack. She's exhausted. Waterlogged. They're exhausted, hanging on a thread. "Hang on," He demands. "Lil longer." His side hurts. Stings. It isn't important right now. Summoning all the strength left in his overused and abused muscles, he dragged them both out of the water.

Groaning, he pulled her, red and black eyes prying anxiously for intruders. Sinister probably knows they've made it out. She's wheezing or crying, he can't tell which. He looks down at the rocks and they're stained red. They were just in a jet crash, and maybe they were both more banged up than he realized. _'Shit,_' He thinks, his vision blurring. _'Merde.'_

He looks beside him and Rogue's collapsed on her side. He exhales when he sees her chest moving, preparing to lift her gently.

"_Going somewhere,_ Mr. LeBeau?" He knew that voice. He huddled closer to the incapacitated girl's body, desperate to keep her safe. Remy flinched when several mutants chuckle. "Blockbuster, retrieve our guests."

* * *

_20 Minutes after Logan's departure..._

* * *

Kitty didn't mean to cry. She did at romantic comedies, scary movies, beautiful movie soundtracks, animal movies, sincere hugs, Christmas themed episodes, and lots of other things. But, most often when Logan was in a mood. Mood was not a strong enough word to describe his affect, so the tears commenced. Ororo's tears alerted Jean, all the way on the wrong side of the mansion.

She's linked in with Scott and sent him to check before she get's there. Kurt's been dancing around asking Logan and the professor how Rogue's mission was going. He's galloping around the mansion to find one of them. Scott isn't too worried to see Kitty crying, but he is when he notices his veteran teammate's face is wet. _"O-Ororo?_ Katherine? What's wrong, you guys. Jean sai-"

"Hey! Have either of you seen Logan? Or the professor? I vanted to ask how my sister is doing, hope she's not running off vith _Gambit._" Kurt's blue face soured, still not fond of the way the souther mutant stole his sister, last time. Ororo only sighed in response and Kitty wailed louder. If it had driven Logan away with no explanation, whatever happened to Rogue was bad.

_"She's... She's..."_ Kitty huffed. "I dunno!" Kurt frowned, his tail swishing anxiously. Kitty was not a reliable narrator, right now. He tried to remain calm, hoping Kitty was no indication of how bad it was.

"Vhoa, slow down? She's_ vhat?_" Kurt braced his friend's shoulders, gently. "Try to calm down, Kitty. This is important." He prayed nothing happened while Rogue was on the other half of the world.

"Mr. Logan went to get her," She whispered guiltily. "Right, Storm?" She nodded, her hands shaking.

"Yes, child. Everyone..." Scott's brow furrowed. "There was an accident on Rogue's mission..." Scott's hands went up in the air.

"Wait, Rogue is in trouble? All the way in Muir and he_ didn't_ stop to let any of us know?" He was fuming. They were way past this lone wolf act. Ororo stood, quickly. "How could he? She's a part of_ my_ team!" He knew something had been up, his mind working furiously to figure out what.

"That was my call, Scott." Charles entered tiredly from the doorway, his forehead wrinkled. He burned under their stares.

_"Scott?"_ The tense atmosphere drew the telepath to the piano room. She could follow her teammates' anxiety and worry like a trail. Her eyes are tearing involuntarily from the dense feelings encasing her. She burrowed into her boyfriend's arms, wishing she could stave off the feelings that weren't her own. "Something, something's_ wrong_. I think it's Rogue." She turned back to the telepath behind her. Charles rubbed his face with his hands.

"Is something wrong with Rogue?" Scott called out in growing frustration. "Why aren't we _all_ going to get her?" Charles did not want to have the conversation while they were all worrying for their friend. He only heaved a heavy sigh, making his oldest student quirk an eyebrow.

"Scott, I've been in contact with_ Magneto-_"

"What does _that_ have to do with things!" Scott responded in exasperation. Kurt's tail swished, anxiously as he contemplated his sister alone with Gambit.

"S-She's okay, though." He pressed. "Right?" Ororo placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"The group, The Purifiers... They are killing mutants indiscriminately. With what looks like government funding. Backing._ Children,_ Scott. Without mercy. I _read_ his mind." The news hangs in the air as Kitty cries louder. Jean wordlessly knelt to her side, hugging her while Ororo looks on. "I_ know_ I should've spoken with you, all of you-"

"And... _They've_ got Rogue and Gambit?" Kurt ventures with his eyes shut. Jean clenched her teeth when the panic surges in the room. Charles flushed even more.

"I don't believe it is related. That is the only reason I waited. I didn't want you rushing out through danger." Scott paced angrily on the carpet, aghast at the fact that mutant children were being murdered and nobody thought to tell him. Kitty was sniffling, leaned against Jean's arm as she struggled to sift through the feelings for her own.

"Then," Jean speaks, finally. "What happened to _Rogue?_" Expectant eyes all turned to the bald man, wishing he had anything to tell them.

"I am not sure. The Blackbird was shot down." He hears four, panicked gasps and Kitty buries her face. "But, Logan has caught Rogue's scent. She and Gambit survived. Do not lose hope. He's also smelled other mutants." Scott was stroking his chin deep in thought as Kurt tried to calm down.

"So, when are we going to get her?" The X-Men's leader was growing impatient hearing all this withheld information.

"Scott, _trust_ Logan. He will bring her home to us." Their eyes met, but Scott didn't look any closer to letting everything go.

"What do you need us here for?" He demanded through grit teeth. "If that wasn't the case we'd all be in the hangar." Charles shut his eyes, quietly praising his student's observations.

"Scott." Jean says, her voice level. Ororo took in a shuddering breath.

"Magnus stuttered across their _bodies,_ Scott. Children. He..." The younger mutant broke his stare as Jean stood, slowly.

"He's going to retaliate, isn't he?" She clutches her fist tight, Kitty hiccups. Charles leaned his head against interlocked fingers.

"I fear it. And, with protests increasing daily..."

"You're worried it will increase the odds of mutant legislation..." Ororo filled in, her head in her hands. She was beginning to get a migraine from all the migraines.

"Among other things." It was becoming impossible for the man to try to stop things he barely understood himself. And of course, it seemed his efforts were only making things worse. "I am _sorry_. I have been trying to protect you all and I've only made things worse." Jean placed a warm hand on his shoulder in concern. "Trust Logan to do what we need him to."

Scott wrapped an arm around Kurt, his brow furrowed. "We can't protect the world, _each other,_ the way we need to if you don't tell us everything. I thought we'd learned this, already." He admonished, his glasses shining in the light.

"Oh, c'mon." Jean's quick to jump to Charles' defense. Non-telepaths did not understand their struggle. "Things can't be unseen. We'd go crazy if he filled us in on every feeling, every vision... He's doing the best he can." She rose and peered in his face. "Rogue will be alright. And, so will we." He only crossed his arms, still reeling at the fact as an adult he was till being left out of the loop.

_'I'm not a child._' He insists in her head, watching as Kitty and Kurt exit the piano room.

_'And, nobody thinks so, Scott.'_ Charles can't help but respond. With a huff, he exited the room with his girlfriend at his heels.


	5. Blasphemy

They were alone. Trapped in a cage like hamsters by Mr. Sinister. But, without them hovering it would give Remy a chance to plot an escape. Rogue was still incapacitated on the floor a few feet away, still except for the steady rise and fall of her back. When he came to, he didn't take his eyes off her until he was sure she was at alive. There were metal devices fashioned around both mutant's necks, one the cajun guesses shuts off their powers.

_'Damn it...'_ There was no shortage of things the geneticist had access to, and that worried him.

His necklace was fastened tight to the bars of the cage, his arms cuffed as well. Immobile. Curiously, Rogue was left free. That didn't seem good, to him. His skin crawls when he imagines Rogue being experimented on. It seemed like Sinister had the intention of taking her out soon, and he couldn't allow that to happen. '_If he do to her what he done to others...'_ He'd seen what Nathaniel Essex was capable of, and he'd just die if any of it was inflicted on the girl trapped with him.

He was fiddling with his cuffs silently, praying whoever Mr. Sinister was depending on was an oaf. Someone who couldn't do anything right. Something. He watched carefully as Rogue sputtered and began to come to. He froze, watching as she rubbed her eyes and looked around in confusion. "W-What..." She shivered, wondering why she was laying on a concrete slab.

Then, it all began to make sense. This wasn't the first time Rogue had been captured._ 'Shit,'_ It all rushed back to her throbbing head. That white mutant. The gun. Remy. The river. The Blackbird. She moves her head a little too fast to see if the southern mutant were still with her. He's sitting in his trench coat, back pressed against the bars. Gaping at her. She touched her head and winced at the dry blood, half wondering why Remy hadn't at least assured her that they were fine. "Ah'm fine, don't mind me..."

She frowned when genuine hurt crossed his features. "_Désolé, chér_e. Remy stuck to de bars..." She spied the collar crudely attaching him to the metal. Then, she felt over her own battered body. She was familiar with this, too. Inhibitor collars. She had no powers. She could touch, but now was not the time. Despite his scolding, she rose to wobbly feet and rushed to his side. "Girl, we was in a _plane crash._ Y'might be hurt." His brow furrowed as she seemed to look for a way to free him. "No use." He mumbled, inhaling sharply.

"Are you hurt?" Rogue's eyes trails downward when he won't answer, and she sees the red slowly leaking out of his side. "RE-"

"Remy okay..." He murmured, examining the girl closer. The New Orleans native was pale and mobbed with sweat. He was staring at the cut in her head, or the gash on her collar bone that's sliced through her uniform. He held his face even, not wanting to alert the girl to more troubles. He sighs when she rips into the thigh of her uniform, tearing a thick ribbon of material off. Wordlessly, she peeled his trench coat back and examined the wound.

Her eyes watered, but she said nothing as she shifted the man's position. He obeyed, watching her with intent eyes as she tied the fabric around his waist. "This should at least do, for now." She says, biting her lip. She never thought she'd be glad for Wolverine's psycho first aid classes. He needed medical attention, this would only help for so long. They both needed Hank. Remembering how far they probably are from home makes her sniff, but he grabbed a bony wrist and looked into her eyes.

"Thank you,_ chére_, but..." His grip tightened as she gasped when she realized there were holes in her gloves, and her fingers were barely grazing his skin. "We need to do somethin'. Now." He looked around the dim lab, test tubes staring back at the pair. "What de difference bet'ween you & I, Rogue?" His stare hardened, physically in pain to not be able to shuffle cards. She swallowed. "Remy chained to de wall, but y'not."

Rogue looked down at her free hands and arms. "Mr. Sinister..." Just the name sent a chill down her spine. She didn't know how, but she knew that white mutant was who he was talking about. "He call himself somethin' of a scientist. Can't let'im take you outta here." She'd never seen his eyes shine so earnestly, not even in NOLA. The silver haired girl gasped when he clutched her hand tight, again. A door somewhere opened and they both tensed.

She fashioned her body in front of his. He was completely restrained and couldn't defend himself, at all. Rogue didn't have offensive powers of her own. But, if they wanted to yank her out of this prison, it would be a lot harder than they were expecting. She's shaking, though, as footsteps echo through out the laboratory. Her fingers grabbed his as the mutants came into view. "It seems sleeping beauty is awake."

Remy's cursing, almost frightening the X-Man when he begins straining against his chains, even with the pain in his side. "_Remy,"_ Rogue whimpered as Mr. Sinister hovered into view. He was even uglier up close, his skin like it was covered in Rogue's stage makeup. His beady, red eyes staring through them. He was shrouded in hard, blue armor. And, a mouth full of too many, sharp teeth. She grit her's as he and the large, juggernaut of a mutant appeared again.

The man was huge, bigger than both Blob and Charles' half brother. And his eyelashes were like wings, ones Rogue might admire under different circumstances. But, none of that mattered. Dr. Essex points, and he moves forward and bends the bars like plastic. Remy yells and Rogue presses her back against the far side of the cage. It was no use. Dumbly, they reached a massive fist and grabbed her.

"Pick on someone ya own size!" Remy hissed, watching helplessly as Blockbuster dragged her out. She was kicking and screaming, pounding her fists and hanging onto the bars. Mr. Sinister only grinned widely as the mammoth mutant groaned. He looked back at his master in annoyance.

_"Blockbuster._" Was all he said and the giant crushed his fist, right around Rogue's waist. Remy's screaming unintelligibly as Rogue cried out in pain, the brute staring into her face. Mr. Sinister only watched as Remy strained against his collar.

"Stop it! _Stop!"_ He shouted, being driven insane by Rogue's hoarse cries. Sinister only chuckled.

"Only if she agrees to cooperate." The cajun's stomach dropped several stories. When he gotten to know her down south, it took a long time to get her to cooperate.

_"Never,"_ Rogue hissed, her face going from white to ashen colored. If this guy wanted her DNA and powers, she'd rather die to spite him.

_"Chére_, jus' do it." Remy begged with his eyes shut. "Please, Rogue." It was beginning to hurt too much to talk or protest. Think. Breathe. Reluctantly, Rogue wilted and the giant released his grip so she could inhale.

"There we are. Bring her to this table and fasten her down." Remy's heart hammered in his chest. He'd seen the mutant vivisect living people, mutants. Whatever. Infect them and deform them. He feels sick as Blockbuster lays the girl down. Rogue spat when Sinister came into her view. "I've heard a great many thing about you, Rogue." She turned away from him, refusing to indulge. "I can't wait to get this started." When the girl was secured, he pointed to the cage.

"In there. With Gambit." Rogue tugged against the restraints, but her exhausted body was not strong enough to break free.

"No!" Mr. Sinister only chuckled. "Ah'm cooperating!"

"Oh yes. I've been studying you, Anna." The girl's blood turned to ice in her veins. "A great deceit drove you to control all of your abilities. Most interesting that you can clone yourself, and the clones were able to _wield_ your separate abilities... Most interesting, indeed." SHe shivered when she saw the look in his eye, like he's just realized how destructive she could be. He looked into Remy's black and red eyes. "You seem to care a great deal for _this_ scoundrel."

Panic surged Rogue's battered mind. "Nope, not really. Came all the way here to arrest him." She bluffed even though bluffing to psychics was usually a losing game. He only chuckled.

"Sure. Blockbuster..." The hulking mutant raised a fist to a defenseless Remy.

"W-Wait... You don't have to hurt him." Rogue looked away, even as Remy screamed at her. "Take whatever ya want!"

"Rogue, no-"

Mr. Sinister clapped. "How beautiful. But, I _will_ hurt Remy and I _will_ get what I want from you." Her breaths shuttered as she turned, horrified to the cage. With a snap, Blockbuster was sticking a boot on Remy's cut side. He screamed out in agony, tears sliding down Rogue's colorless face.

"NO," Rogue shouted as Sinister removed the collar from her neck. If she could control her abilities, she would kill him first. She didn't care what the rules if the X-Men were.

_'If I get her to break through, I can derive a potion that makes Rogue like that all the time. Control her, and I will be unstoppable!'_ He stroked his chin as the cajun mutant screamed out in pain, Blockbuster's. "I don't know how long he'll last, you're both in pretty rotten shape from that crash." More laughing, Rogue thought she'd go insane. "No matter. Mr. Sinister always gets what he wants..."

"I won't let you hurt him..." Rogue seethed, angry tears marking down her face. Mr. Sinister didn't know not to mess with the Rogue.

* * *

Charles knew it was bad if his friend was letting him enter his mind. He was dripping with perspiration, desperate to appeal to his comrade. _'My friend, I beg of you. We are finally on the same side. Do n-'_

_'I will not let this fate befall me, you, or my people! Charles, I beg you. Your pacifism will get you and others killed. Stand aside.'_ Charles hung his head at Cerebro, still hoping it wouldn't become another fight. He thought he'd be able to change his friend's mind, convince him to join them in the fight against the prejudice. But, he was simply asking too much. Especially, after what he's seen. What he knows.

_'Professor..'_ Jean ventured in his head. The tension on the jet was unbearable. It didn't feel right going on another mission when of their team was missing. But, Magneto had almost started wars before. They knew what could happen if they weren't there to try and stop him. Still, defending mutant baby killers while Rogue was M.I.A was wearing on Scott. He hadn't said a word as they waited in the X-Jet to see if Charles could talk Magneto down.

_'He won't listen, Jean...'_ She bowed her head. "Cloak the jet, Storm. He won't listen to the professor." The silver haired woman exhaled and obeyed. Kitty and Kurt exchanged looks while Scott watched, his brow furrowed.

"For the record, I'd rather be looking for our teammate than defending_ children killing bigots_..." He begins, inhaling sharply through his nose. Jean placed a hand on his broad chest. "For once, I agree with Magneto. Who can really..." He clutched a fist tight. If he had to help these people, he wishes Charles would've kept who they were a secret.

"It is our job, to protect. Besides." Kurt sighed, loudly. "You know vhat vill happen if Magneto wreaks havoc." It'd all almost happened when mutants were outed. It only made Scott angrier that he was right.

"Rogue wouldn't want us to leave mutants in Magneto's hands. She can't stand him." Kitty ventured, crossing her arms as she looked out the window. She'd much rather be finding her roommate and getting filled in on her escapades with Gambit (because if they were together, it _was_ an escapade). She sent Kurt a worried look.

"Scott, I know you're upset. We all are." Jean tried. "But, we don't want a battle. Those people will use it to justify their vitriol, and that's what they're counting on. We need to keep things as peaceful as possible." Scott lined up at the door, his arms folded.

"Magneto doesn't _want_ peace, Jean. And, neither do the Purifiers. " The door opened and Bobby as Piotr lined up behind him. "Why should we? I'm getting sick of it." He was beginning to understand what the professor's dream actually meant. Sacrifices beyond what he'd already prepared for. The sacrifice of his pride and what he honestly believed in. Like black cops defending KKK members. When was enough enough?

He jerked when Piotr placed a solemn hand on his shoulder. "It is not fair, but it _is_ right, friend." Scott and the professor's moral compass persuaded him to join after Apocalypse ended. He only sighed, steeling his face as he wandered outside. People were gathered, a troupe of people standing on stage like sentinels. There were dressed in what looked like black, tactical suits detailed in gold. Crosses pinned to their chests.

"William Stryker... He's the one calling these orders..." Kitty began. "I don't think he's here." Jean frowned beside her.

"But, Magneto is nearby..." Jean said, her eyes shut in focus. "Incoming... Now." She looked around worriedly as he appeared in the sky, a strange woman at his side. With an emerald helmet and bright, lime green hair. Bobby scratched his head. She was beautiful, but she was not an ally. War was in her stare. And, when did Magneto keep women besides his daughter and Mystique around?

"Who's the smoke?" He questioned to only a glare from Scott.

"Children of Xavier." The girl beside held her head high, but said nothing. Scott clutched his fists as the demonstration continued, behind them. A gnarled, silver haired preacher stood at the podium, his religious militia standing behind him. "Please. I will ask you as I asked him, step aside."

"Oh righteous ones. Ones who believe in our lord and savior..." They didn't react to the gathering of mutants. In fact, it pegged Jean as strange._ 'Like... We aren't what they're after.'_ "If there be found among you... Man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the eyes of the lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, worshipped them, either the sun or moon, or any of these hosts of heaven I have not commanded..." Finally, the elderly man seems to notice the mutant congregation.

He only smiled. "Here, the lord has sent examples of blasphemy. Demons. _The wicked._ Those that do what only gods should..." The crowd burst into murmurs, whipping around to Magneto and the X-Men. "They are abominations of God!" Kurt wilted, thinking of his own religious upbringing. His faster parents were saints, believing him to be a blessing and a test of their faith. They raised him with love and to revere the lord.

"Never heard the bible recited _quite_ like this..." He muttered as people turned to gawk at them. His tail and blue fur drew a lot of attention.

"Yeah, well. One of these moments I'm glad to be Jewish..." Kitty whispered, trying to decipher if the girl's hair color was natural. She hadn't said anything, she just hovered beside Magneto._ 'Hope they're not dating..._' She thought to herself, shivering in disgust.

"And, _you come._" Magneto begins, Scott turning his head. "To defend those who _twist_ holy words. Who would have us locked in conditions worse than the persecution of my people, decades ago! You will watch history repeat, Scott? Charles is a fool, and I love him anyway." He caught the boy's stare. They had seen eye to eye, once. Briefly. And, the results were disastrous. But, he recognized the anger. "Do not be fools. You are young. You are the future..."

"If only William Stryker were here, God's finest warrior. But, he serves the lord another way." The preacher continued. The woman beside Magneto raised her hands, and they glowed with a bright, celadon light. People began to gasp and shriek, but the Purifiers did not flinch. The ground rattled beneath them, and soon cars rose beside the mutant clad in purple.

"Oh my god..." Jean breathed. "She's his..."

_"Daughter?"_ Scott finished. The last thing they needed was to deal with double that power.

"Must be his favorite." Bobby quipped as people began to scream and point at them. Cursing, Ororo rose in the air, her eyes glowing.

"Do not make war, Erik. _Please."_ Reluctantly, Scott raised a hand to his visor. He looked to Jean, then Kitty and Kurt.

"X-Men..." He began as news cameras began appearing. But, his ringing communicator interrupted.

"Scott! Scott!" It was Hank. He never called the team's attention away from missions, unless...

"Hank? Henry, everything okay at the school? _Hank!_" He could hear chaos in the background, and his panic rose. Rogue had stopped some sticky situations by touching multiple students and using her superior training to defend the kids. But, she was gone. And Logan, who'd normally be protecting the school, was out looking for her. Most of the schools heavy hitters were with _him. 'No, god. Please-'_

"He stormed us, Scott. William Stryker. The mansion... It's... He took Charles!" He looked up into the eyes of the preacher. He was just staring. Smiling. This had been the plan all along, knowing the X-Men would empty out the mansion.

"Oh gods, the school!" Ororo wailed from the sky.

"They've what?" The metal began to rattle around Magneto. He could take it out on the bigots, or he could try to save his friend. "Come. We must go, you have no idea what they would do to-"

"Get on the X-Jet." Scott demanded angrily. This was two, maybe three people missing. And he was going to do something about it.


	6. Charles' Crucifixion

The War Room was in complete disarray as students and children rushed in out, praying for word on their missing headmaster. There were dozens of shattered windows and doors, walls that were demolished from the attack. Scott can't even speak when he sees the damage, his tenseness sending a head pain to his girlfriend. The leader of the Purifiers had broken in, _destroyed_ his home, and taken the closest thing he'd ever had to a father.

"Move, boy. Charles cannot afford inaction. Is there anyone here capable of tracking him, somehow?" Erik called out, impatiently. Kitty whimpered as she typed furiously on the massive computer. Logan was gone, and Erik's presence made the girl nervous. Charles trusted him, but that didn't mean she did.

"I can. The professor and I share the strongest mental link. He's been training my powers for most of my life." Jean closed her eyes and held on to the portable Cerebro. "Any glimmer of him," Her eyes seemed to light up. "I'll find it." Magneto only nodded, watching as Kitty scoured code on the computer monitor. Jean grit her teeth. The machine was set to the professor's settings, not her own. She wasn't used to stretching her power so much, but it was necessary.

_'Please, professor... Hang on.'_ Scott was pacing back and forth, despite not remembering the last time he'd gotten a good night's rest.

"Hopefully, the professor will be able to use his ability to reach out before they shut off his powers. That'll give us a trail... An idea..." He fought with the urge to throw his communicator against the wall. Now, the professor was missing and vulnerable. In the hands of religious psychos. Now, they had no updates on Rogue. Logan was off on his own and has no idea Charles is even missing. The more he thought about it, the more upset he got.

"I'm not finding _anything_..." Kitty whimpers, but Kurt places a hand on her shoulder.

"You're doing a great job, Kitty. Maybe, those nut-jobs will say something in a press conference, o-or on the news." He suggested, smiling lamely. Would they just pick them all off, one by one? Logan had always said the X-Men's greatest strength came together. Right now, they were being spread apart. _'It's not looking good, for us.'_

Jean groaned and Scott was instantly by her side. "What do you sense?" Magneto demands, the silent green woman at his side. She hadn't spoken a word since her father rushed her, away.

"I... I think... I think he might be using his power..." Her forehead screwed in concentration as she wondered what the telepath was doing._ 'If... He's using his powers, why isn't he communicating with us?'_ She had a bad feeling about this.

"Here, look... That's him! Stryker!" Kitty screamed, enraged. She shot up and flung a finger towards the screen. He was on T.V, holding a press conference after destroying their home and stealing Charles. He was standing at a podium, smirking in his black, Nazi revival suit covered in gold crosses.

* * *

_And, they brung him unto Golgotha. Then, they crucify him. _

_Charles Xavier stares down into the faces of his children. Children of the atom. His dream. Rogue sneers up, clawing at the cross. She's bloated and water-logged, her teeth jagged. Her eyes white. Sharpened claws reaching for him. "You killed me, professor. You let me die!" His hands are bleeding, nailed to the wooden cross as he hangs there. The eyes of his entire school staring up at him. _

_Scott and Jean. Ororo and Logan. All of them, cursing him. Damning him to hell for sacrificing them to his dream. One by one they gut him, they take his heart. They watch him suffer. _

_"You enjoy this, old man? You should. You shaped us in your image, this is your heaven." Scott declares, unloading his optic beam onto his mentor. "We gave our lives for your dream, and you gave us death and dishonor!" _

_"No, Scott! PLEASE," Black miasma flowed out of his first student's eyes, choking him as he engulfed them all. _

_"Unleash it, professor. Your darkness. Your resentment of our ungratefulness. Unleash it!" Ororo declares, striking him with lightning. _

_"Destroy us as we will destroy you, professor. The way your dream destroyed us." Kitty glared at him with black eyes._

_"You said you vould help me, professor. You just wanted my pover for you cause!" _

_"Destroy us. Destroy everything. Eliminate our scourge from the earth. Now!" Jean demanded, covered in flames. "Now, professor."_

It almost worked. A mousy, brown agent of Stryker's sat at the console as Charles hovered in the suspended tank, a helmet obscuring his whole face. Right on time, Stryker would be able to show how serious the Purifiers were about the mutant menace. "General, we will need a stronger power source to complete God's mission... Something nuclear, but we're ready to send the message."

"God bless you, Olivia." Is all the man muttered into his earpiece The silver haired man looked out over the crowd and reflects on the events that bring him here. A car crash. The discovery that his child was a demon, sent from a hell. A mutant, and his wife a carrier of the deadly X-Gene. He strangled them both in the desert. William Stryker died that day, but general Stryker and Reverend Stryker were born. "Simulate the explicit torture of his team, not himself. That'll make his psychic powers flare."

She did as told, and the device began to whirr at full power. Charles' test tube glowed, and the mutant inside began to scream.

_'NO... Please, torture me! Leave them alone, this is my fault! They haven't...'_

"When the lord, thy god deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them! The Purifiers..." William spoke before the gathered crowd and cameras. "Dream of a world where we live as intended. Equal. The way god made us. And soon, those with the X-Gene shall be no more." To the gasps of the crowd, he pulled out a device and pressed a button, sneering.

"You cannot see, but right now all those containing mutant DNA or an X-Gene are about to be paralyzed. Unable to use their powers. A telepath is overloading their brains with so much psychic energy, their brain vessels could explode. When we can use enough power, we will wipe them all out! Forever. And we will live as it is, in the bible!"

* * *

"Ah said,_ leave 'im alone!_" Rogue shouted, tears streaming freely down her face. Remy was too injured to take the mammoth's beating. She didn't know who Mr. Sinister was or why he was torturing them, but she felt like her head was about implode. "Let him_ go!_"

"Ah'd listen,_ mon ami. Chére_ sound angry." Remy grunted under Blockbuster's fist. Mr. Sinister only grinned at both of their tenacity. They had made for great entertainment.

"Oh? Then why doesn't she do something about it." He taunted, watching the girl shut her eyes tight. Then, her restraints snapped off. Even Remy was marveling from under Blockbuster's giant hand. This was the moment the scientist had been waiting for. He had stalked, even peered in on the girl through Remy. She hadn't controlled all her amassed powers since she was in high school. He would be the first to witness it.

He looked up as thunder made his dungeon rattle. The clouds began to gather inside, turning into a dense fog as one of Rogue's hand crackled with electricity and the other with fire. _"Ah said, let him go."_ Lightning crashes into his arm and leaves a sizzling stump in it's wake. Blockbuster doesn't react, but the cajun's mouth is hanging open. Rogue's skin become iron and she lights on fire. "Now."

"You are powerful." Nathaniel Essex answers with some effort. She frowns when his arm slowly begins to grow. "Unfortunately for you, I regenerate. And I can crush your mind with little more th-" He raised a fist but she raised her's, ripping the massive mutant from overtop Remy. Next, his collar was shorted and his chains, removed. Rabidly, Sinister tried to enter Rogue's mind but he found the chaos too difficult to penetrate. _'W-What?'_

He tried to fling the girl anywhere as Remy slowly leaned up on his staff. The white mutant was sent crashing into the wall, leaving a crater behind. "Should've listened." Rogue screamed, her eyes glowing red and unloading Scott's optic blast onto him. The result shout is one that earns Remy's attention. He'd never heard Mr. Sinister sound like he was in pain, but he knew he was. Practically melting under Scott's blasts.

_"AAAAUUUGH,_ NO! BACK!" He screamed as Rogue bared down on him, her fists clenched. A strong, telepathic interruption was the geneticist's only saving grace. Remy started screaming when Rogue hit the ground, suddenly.

"Rogue, w-" Then the splitting, white noise hit his head. He dropped his staff with a clatter and held his head._ 'What's... Happenin' to us...' "Chére._" Sinister is astonished when Rogue's unstoppable attack relents.

_'She almost...'_ The man was made up of mutant DNA, but that didn't necessarily make him owner of the X-Gene. Or a mutant. He shut his eyes and reached massive, telepathic abilities out to see there was an attack on mutants, even his own Blockbuster. So, it had nothing to do with him. Rogue was already out, but Remy was still fighting it.

_'No matter. I'll take advantage of my fortune.'_ Frowning, Remy hissed as the man disappeared, abandoning his henchman.

_'W-What's happenin' to us?' _He looked up at Rogue's face._ 'No...' _

* * *

Jean moaned, wiping drool off of her face like she'd had a long nap. Her red hair was played out on the tiles of the War Room floor. Cerebro had fallen on the ground, tossed beside her. Kitty and Kurt were moaning, and Erik was sitting up in shock._ 'Something's happened... Was, was that the professor's powers? Are the Purifiers weaponizing him_?_ God,_' She hissed in pain as she leaned up delicately, seeing Scott still passed out beside her.

"Scott," She moaned_. "Scott?_" Her fear makes the War Room console rattle, as Kurt helps Kitty sit up. "Scott, say something. _Please!_" He grunted, his brow wrinkling as he came to.

"J-_Jean._.." More relieved and frantic moans could be heard all over the campus. "Jean, are you..."

"What have they done..." Magneto seethed, his hands shaking. "What are they doing to _Charles_?" Jean moved Scott's hair out of his face as she examined him in worry. '_God, I hope Logan and Rogue are alright. Gambit, too... Every mutant out there. God help, us.'_ She let her boyfriend lean on her, worried eyes examining the rest of her teammates.

"Everybody in here okay?"

_'Everyone? Is everyone alright and coming to?'_ She winced as the dozens of frantic responses in her head.

_'What was that! What's happening?'_

_'I'm scared, Ms. Grey. Where are you? Where's the professor?'_

_'Is Logan back?'_

"Everyone appears okay, _Kitty?_" The smaller mutant shook short, brown locks.

"Yeah, my brain just feels like pudding." She looks worried about Logan, her roommate, too. She doesn't have the heart to say anything beside Kurt.

"We have to find Charles, before they really kill us all." Erik's intense stare landed on Jean. "Did you find a clue, anything? Tell us." Jean rubbed her head as Scott frowned beside her.

"Yes, I did. Before I passed out. I know where they're keeping him. _In D.C-_" Erik and the woman he'd referred to as Polaris rose as iron spheres crashed through the basement.

"No!" Scott screamed, climbing to his feet. "MAGNETO,"

"I'm sorry, Scott... I shouldn't have..." Jean rubbed her head, her mind still a little scrambled but Charles' attack.

"It's okay. We won't let him do anything stupid. Come on, let's get suited up." He helped her delicately to her feet. His brow knit, furiously. Now, they were going to have to stop a war.


	7. God Be Your Shepherd

Rogue came to with Remy leaning over her, overgrown, auburn hair trespassing past worried eyes. It'd been about ten minutes since Sinister fled and she'd roused. He was still leaking blood, and beginning to grow concerned. He exhaled sharply when she blinked and then looked at him with recognition. "Dere you are..." He murmurs, mostly to himself. He moves stiffly closer to her and looks around the shattered lab. She'd destroyed it before they both dropped to the ground with pains between their ears.

_'What was dat...'_ He swallowed, hard. "You okay?" Her brow furrowed, and then she groaned. He paled when he realized she was trying to sit up. And, failing. "Rogue? Y'alright?" His fingers tangled carefully with her hair.

"Ah... Ah can't move." She answers, her forehead wrinkled in concentration. He moves his hands cautiously over her body, checking for injuries. Any that might leave her unable to move her limbs.

"Can't move... Y'Y'don' mean..." If the girl was paralyzed on his watch, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

"Happened before, once." She says, her eyes shut. She always felt like a burden, but especially right now. "When Ah used all my powers..." Only extreme emotional distress and torture had made it possible. He looks down at her curiously. Remy had not been there to see the fallout of her losing control.

"What happen after..." He's almost scared to question. Her eyes remain on the ceiling for a while.

"Ah was in the hospital, for over a _month_." He cursed before moving her gently to gather in his arms. She frowned when she saw the red stain spreading through the fabric she tied around it._ "Remy," _He was bleeding to death and she was completely wiped. _'Christ on a cracker, we're doomed.'_

"Dis scoundrel wasn' worth it," He says, the expression on his face glum. She was good at being an X-Man. '_Why you use yo' powers for me...' _

"Can't carry me," She insists, her mind feeling even more wrung out than the last time this happened. "We're sittin' ducks."

"Well," Remy answered with a tired smile. Somehow, the girl's company made this situation not seem so bad. "Not stayin' here..." He tries not to smile at her following scowl.

"Leave _me_..." They didn't both have to die, right? What if Sinister comes back?

"Quiet," He orders, pretending to listen out. He would sooner bleed before he abandoned her on her own. "We gotta get goin'."

"Remy,"

"Ain't leavin' ya." When she's silent, he begins to maneuver slowly towards what looks like an exit. He feels her begin to shake.

"Ah_ think_..." Her voice is shaking, and he frowns in the darkness as he moves. "That pain in my head, did you have it, too?" Remy nodded, moving as fast as his body would allow. "Ah think it was my professor. Ah don't know why, but _sometimes_... When he has nightmares, the same thing happens. To everyone in the mansion... How did it reach us, here?" Her lip began to tremble as she wondered if he was okay. Where was 'here'? She had no idea.

"Don't get hysterical,_ chére._ Y'exhausted." He soothes, a disconcerted look on his face. He hoped she was wrong, if Charles was weaponized against them they were in serious trouble.

"Ah'm _scared,_ Remy." He can't stand to look at her when her lips trembles. The expression in his eye softened.

"Me too,_ chére_. Remy make sure it'll be alright." He stifled a wince, putting on a strong face for the girl's sake. Feeling is beginning to return to her fingers, and she'll be useful soon. Thunder cracked above and he pressed them both flat against the wall. _'Rain... Jus what we need...'_ He pushes forward for what seems like forever until he sees a window they can scale.

He set Rogue on the stone ledge and climbed up, hissing at the gash in his side. Rogue wrinkled her brow, but said nothing as he hopped down and prepared to take her with him. She slowly raised her arms and grabbed his hands, sliding as he pulled her into the wet brush. "C'mon," He urges, desperate to put some space between them and the hellish dungeon they were trapped in.

'_She need to get home, she need a real doctor. We both do.'_ He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled as much he could stand to. He admires her bullheaded determination to move herself despite fatigue. He makes a note to thank her later as he swears he catches shadows moving among the trees. Soon, her face is bare and shining in the moonlit rain.

His hair clings to his face as he struggles to see in the darkness and a monsoon. '_Rain ain't what we need...'_ A groan pulls him from his calculations. His side is slick with blood, and she doesn't sound good. "Doin' okay, talk t'Remy." He asks, forcing tired legs to take more steps despite their refusal. Even in the rain, he's certain they are being tracked. And, if someone is determined enough to track someone in the rain, they were as good as dead. "Remy t'ink he see some'n..."

"My_ head._.." Rogue whimpers, and the cajun panics_. 'Another attack?_' He can't afford to have his brains scrambled, he doesn't know when he'll get back up.

"S'okay, Rogue. If it dat, we goin' down together." Rogue isn't sure if she finds that comforting, but she grabs a hold of him tighter. She hopes he's wrong, that they aren't being followed. And if they are, that it's Logan. But, he probably had no idea where she is. He's probably lashing out in a forest, thinking she's lying dead at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe, stalking her would-be killer. But, not looking for her in a forest. She has no idea where Sinister dragged them, and it could be anywhere.

Remy hears a deep breath as she realizes how lost she is. Alone, sans the New Orleans native, and utterly helpless. Half dead. Shivering. Tears well in her eyes as his fingers dig into the meat of her thigh. He relates, he just can't breakdown. Another blur flashes his peripheral. He's certain he's being followed. "Rogue," He pants, trying to brace himself. "Hang on, _d'accord?"_

"Remy?" She was defenseless and he'd bled half his volume of blood. '_Ah gotta think of somethin', fast.'_

Crying out in anguish, Remy broke into a sprint that jostled the girl in his arms. She gripped his arms tight as they cut through the forest. The sound of leaves rustling could be heard behind them, and she started struggling in his arms. She wasn't sure what, but she wasn't going to die without protest. She'd die fighting, just like Logan had always taught her. _"Easy_," Remy panted, his boots slipping on slick leaves.

A shot rings out and whizzes by his ear. When Rogue shouts, he stops and puts a hand in the air.

"Move for your cards and I blow your head off." They hear them clearly over the rain. Footsteps come closer as Remy can only wait for them to reveal themselves. A gun feels human. Very unlike like his elusive associate, Mr. Sinister. Humans might be more dangerous, at this point. He saw a value in their DNA. A lot of humans didn't. "I have tracked you abominations all the way here, God as _my_ shepherd."

Rogue stifles a sniff as Remy presses her close to him. She doesn't know why, but in this moment she's glad she's with him. A southerner, who would stand with pride into the good night. The plain faced man is decked in midnight kevlar. Dark hair clung to his face in the rain. And, a gun points right at them. Rogue tries to shield her face as Remy only breathes. "You've come from that_ Hellmout_h! Experimentations! You shall walk this earth, no more." Rogue gasps when he advances on them, the cajun moving her back.

Despite the gun in his one hand, he pulled a sword with his other. Remy caught the movement as soon as it's made and moves to make sure his shoulder is punctured, and not Rogue's. '_No...'_ She feels his blood splatter on her in the rain. Screaming, she fell out of his hands as he fell back, the Purifier seething at him with hate. "STOP," He pressed his steel tipped boot on his chest and slid the weapon off.

"And we shall_ stone them_." He hissed, looking into the mutant's eyes.

"We haven't done anything!" Rogue begged, scrambling weakly through the mud. "Leave him_ alone!"_

"He was_ born_." The agent says, studying Rogue for one moment. Fair skinned. Classic features. A devil in disguise. Remy grunts when he sees the man start to switch his attention.

"Ah'm over here," He rasped, to slash to his cheek from the sword.

"Silence." He approached Rogue as thunder cracked overhead. Lightning flashed next, Rogue's skin glowing like a strobe_. "Harlot..."_ Her uniform clung to her in moisture.

_"Hey,_" Remy yells, despite the spreading numbness in his body. He hated the look in the bastard's eyes. Nobody should look at her that way. Rogue shrieks when he grabs a hold of her face, unfortunately protected by her soaked hair. She snarls back when his fingers dig into her cheeks, making her eyes water.

"Perhaps, _you_ are most wicked of all..." Blood covering most of his armor, Remy forced himself to sit up. He'd die before he allowed this to happen. He sticks his staff in the mud and falls immediately over, twitching. _'Rogue...'_

"Remy, stop! _Don't move_!" She sobbed, screaming when the man pulled her by the hair and jammed the gun into her mouth. Tears spring to her eye as she gags, struggling to breathe and cry all at once. The fallen man watching is forcing his way to his knees despite feeling blood loss. His head is hazy, foggy. Weak. Desperate to get to the girl's face imprinted in his mind.

_"Rogue..._" Lightning flashes overhead, and all he can hear are her whimpers. The Purifier's eye glints evilly in the night.

"God be_ your_ shepherd..." Remy's arm barely moves as he reaches for a card. _'Can' let_-' His heart wrenches when she screams.

Rogue sobs as something slashes through the rain. The gun goes slack and falls out of her mouth to a splat in the mud. When she scrambles back, she feels something spray on her against the rain. She blinks, seeing more dark stains on her uniform and skin as the soldier stands there_. 'W-Wha...'_ Remy's gone silent, his eyes locked on something else. Rogue squints when she realizes the soldier no longer _has a head_. Feeling ill and confused, she sees the shadow behind it.

His eyes flash in the darkness, and she sees some sort of pact he made with the devil to find her, somewhere even she doesn't know. In the pouring rain. Doing the impossible for the hell of it. "L-L" Her mouth can barely work as she sees shaking claws. Dark hair plastered across his face in the rain. _"Logan-"_ He drops to his knees, streaked in blood as he stares down at her. At what he almost saw. Lightning flashes, proving she was rght.

_"Stripe,_" He croaked, and she can tell he's so tired of searching for her. Looking. Praying. Begging for her safety. "Rogue, you're..." He places a gentle hand atop her head. Words won't do what he feels justice. He feels his heartbeat, again. He feels human once more.

"Remy's _hurt, Logan_. Bad." He nods at her, seeing the terror and exhaustion in anxious, watery eyes.

"Can you walk?" She doesn't seem like she can, but she might not have a choice if Remy is bad off. Her brow sets.

"Ah_ will._" He nods and reaches down to grab Remy in the darkness, proud of how he trained her. Luckily, he hadn't parked the jet far away.

"I can patch ya up, cajun. But... We won't get much rest." His face darkens as Rogue stumbles in the rain. What could be worse than what they' been through? She hadn't told him about Mr. Sinister, and that he'd probably be back. Remy's practically hanging off Logan's shoulders, weaving in and out of consciousness. "The professor is _missin'_. And, the jet's getting some crazy readings about Jean... in D.C..." The girl manages to pale even further. She knew what this means. Her grip on his shoulder tightens.

"We... We need to get there." Rogue swallows, hard. There was no telling what could happen if Jean's power was rising.

"Piece'o cake..." Remy mutters with a smirk, barely awake. Rogue hushes him, her brow knit with worry.

"Don't talk, _stupid_." She nags, Logan watching as she moves from his side to the southerner's.

"Yeah, you've seen better days. I see why Chuck wanted tor reign ya in." Remy laughed at that.

"Yeah, maybe Remy retire."


End file.
